Maps were historically built for people who were explorers, intrepid seafarers who needed maps to guide them. Over the past few years, all of us have turned explorers, relying on comprehensive and easy-to-use maps such as Google Maps to understand and navigate the microworlds around us.Today, we use maps every day to find all places local, whether it’s a nearby hospital or a good cup of coffee. Yet have you ever stopped to think about the industry behind the maps we use every day, the contributions it makes to our economy, and the benefits it provides to both consumers and businesses?The transformation of these modern maps is driven by a growing industry that creates jobs and economic growth globally. To get a clearer picture of the importance of the Indian geo services industry, we commissioned a study from Boston Consulting Group. What we found is that maps do make a significant economic splash in India. According to the BCG report commissioned by Google, the Indian geo services industry generated $3 billion in revenue in 2011 alone while accounting for approximately 135,000 jobs. Even to someone like me, who implicitly believes in the value of maps, the impact of geo services on the Indian economy is staggering — geo services help Indian businesses drive $40-45 billion in revenue, save $70-75 billion in costs and affect 8-9 million jobs in India. The BCG report also found that Indian consumers are also willing to pay $1.5-2 billion more than they currently do for geospatial services such as online maps, navigation systems and local searches.Currently, the Indian geo services industry is comprised of companies that process the location data, companies that produce geo-enabled software, and expert industries that use geospatial data to generate insights. Beyond the industry itself, a wide variety of other industries in India also use geo services to make their businesses more efficient and productive. Consider Meru Cab, India’s largest cab provider and the third largest taxi operator globally. They oversee more than 20,000 trips a day across the four massive metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. And using geo services, Meru Cab pioneered the concept of GPS-enabled taxis in India, using a GPS-based tracking system to identify match customers with the nearest cab and swiftly scheduling pickups. As seen with Meru Cab, geo services deliver efficiency gains not only to businesses but also to the rest of the Indian economy.Indeed, there is tremendous room to grow this industry and create a lasting source of competitive advantage for India. Geo services industry in India is still young, and the large growth of mobile, online maps puts this industry at the cusp of exponential growth. To ensure that geo services continue to be a valuable driver of the Indian economy, there is a need to invest in it — through support of open data policies, product innovation, better satellite technology, and wider geography education programs in schools.We’re proud of the contributions that Google Maps,Google Map Maker, Google Maps APIs and our Enterprise solutions have made to the Indian geo services industry and to making maps more widely available, but there’s a long way to go. To learn more about the impact of the maps industry, see the full study from BCG. Posted by Lalitesh Katragadda, Country Head - India Product, Google